The Human Ecology Of Disease

McNeill argues that disease and human populations had reached equilibrium before the Neolithic Revolution. The evolution of agriculture and human expansion brought many changes, an environment that encouraged the more rapid evolution of disease organisms for both humans and their animal servants. There is a relationship between host and disease agents; evolution of culture produces disruption. Humans begin to shape the environment. Diseases become much easier to spread.

“What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger” (p. 28). In the scientific novel Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem with Jonathan Prince, self-acclaimed “Medical Maverick” Dr. Moalem makes in-depth analyses of current human diseases that, ironically, may have led to the survival of mankind in the past. He presents a novel concept that greatly contradicts what have been universally accepted beliefs surrounding biology and the process of human evolution for a long time. With the use of myriad scientific studies and research, he formulates surprising theories about a positive correlation between disease and humanity. Moalem narrates the scientific world’s findings that strongly exemplify his assertions, however arbitrary they may seem at first. Three of the diseases that he examines, hemochromatosis, Type 1 diabetes, and favism, could have been particularly useful for resistance against other illnesses and survival in a historically harsh environment.

Public health as it is implicated in the lives of the community – it is important to conceptualise what this might mean. Moreover, public health has seen as a multidiscipline perspective in which it can be defined on many levels, and I find that it could be elusive to understand its meaning. By simple understanding of public health, I refer to an approach derived by Winslow (1920) and Baggott (2000).

No matter how strenuous it may be for an urban area to prevent an outbreak from occurring, it is still inevitable. Many organizations have tried to educate the population about the cause of diseases and how to prevent it. Although this method displays a decrease in certain diseases, it still occurs. However, instead of just attempting to prevent these diseases, a profound amount of cures have been discovered to treat it. Throughout multiple sources, such as online articles and lectures on the Industrial Revolution, it is unambiguous that the human race spreads disease through unsanitary environments, direct physical contact, and lack of knowledge, but society adapts to these situations and restrains the expansion of diseases by improved safety

This is evident in how the film frames health issues, framing them from a social and environmental perspective. With an ecological model in mind, the film shows that interactions from individuals, to society, to environment can impact health. Furthermore, it shows how ecological and environmental factors can intrinsically be health determinants.

Throughout history the human race has been faced with one key factor that no one civilization has even been able to beat, not the might of the Roman-Byzantine Empire, nor the combined efforts of the entirety of Europe and their scholars could defeat this recurring foe. Pandemics, from the Greek ‘pan’ meaning all, and ‘demos’ meaning people (Harper Etymonline.com), are these indiscriminate killers whom care not for your social standing be it wealth, fame, or glory. Humans have contested with disease ever since the infantile stages of the species, but the ability of it to spread was severely inhibited by the fact that humans stayed in small groups of 10-30 people at most, giving the virus or disease severely hampered virulence. It was not till humans began gathering in larger, more permanent settlements such as the early Classical cities of Athens, Ramses, and Rome, that the issue of sanitation and disease came into effect. This has not to say that our issues with sanitation and disease prevention have stopped, rather have they been brought forward into the limelight, many nations around the world today have issues with age old diseases and give rise to extremely deadly new viruses of their own. To fully understand the effect of pandemics in history, then one must consider three major plagues of our recorded history, the first pandemic ‘Plague of Athens’, the pivotal ‘Plague of Justinian’, and the infamous ‘Black Death’

In a response to the polio outbreak of 1916, Dr. Haven Emerson, the Health Commissioner for New York City, stated: “we have learned little that is new about the disease, but much that is old about ourselves.” The meaning of this has to do with the ideology that no matter the era, people have a common response to the outbreak of contagious disease. Human nature supplies us as humans with a common reaction to dealing with disease, and it is one that can be seen during the Black Death, polio epidemics, and ebola epidemics, as well as many other epidemics. These responses can be both positive and negative, and often have to do with containment of the disease, preventative measures - which may or may not be effective; and scapegoating. Although there may be individualized responses for each of these diseases, the way in which the health-care officers and the public handle the outbreak of disease generally follows the same pattern overall.

Dr. Jackson is a medical doctor and was the director at the center of disease control in Atlanta. Jackson is currently a professor and a part of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the school of public health in Los Angeles. Dr. Jackson decided to make this series and this book to bring awareness to the health challenges that have come from our

We live in an environment, where there exists a daily interaction of humans, natural forces and other living things. This environment provides for our growth, survival as well as danger. A very important factor of this environment is Disease or illness. Various factors contribute to illness, such as injury, unhealthy lifestyle and lack of healthcare.

“What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger” (p. 28). In the scientific novel Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem with Jonathan Prince, self-acclaimed “Medical Maverick” Dr. Moalem makes in-depth analyses of current human diseases that, ironically, may have actually been beneficial to the survival and evolution of mankind throughout its existence on Earth. With the use of myriad scientific studies and research, he formulates surprising theories about the potentially positive correlation between disease and humanity. Survival of the Sickest presents a novel concept that greatly contradicts what have been universally accepted beliefs surrounding biology and the process of human evolution for a long time. Though the associations may seem arbitrary at first glance, Moalem narrates the scientific world’s findings that strongly exemplify this concept. Three of the diseases that he examines, hemochromatosis, Type 1 diabetes, and favism, could have in fact proved useful for helping humans resist other illnesses and surviving a harsh environment.

Ecological approaches focus on both population and individual level determinants of health. Ecological approaches mainly consider health issues as a community based problem and not just individual, this helps to improve community health and reduce health concerns. Unlike the behaviour change model, by focusing on a community, ecological approaches reduce the idea of singling out individuals which is more beneficial and may make the approach more successful.

Technological advancement has often outperformed scientific knowledge associated with the causes that determine health. Increasing complications in social organization increase the possibilities by which multiple agents can disturb health, including factors such as those that risk physical health like venomous chemicals or radiation, restricted access to sanitary and pure natural resources, and the infinite amalgamation of them all. Decisions taken in areas apparently detached from health frequently have the prospect to have an impact on people’s health in either positive or negative manner due to a large number of links and connections in modern life. Health is an area comprised of highly intricate systems, which can be accidentally

The Ecological Model of Health, sometimes also called The Social-Ecological Model, is one of the main models and theories that underpin the practice of health promotion. Defined by the Institute of Medicine as "a model of health that emphasizes the linkages and relationships among multiple factors (or determinants) affecting health”, that ecological framework is based on the premise that no single factor can fully explain the variations, the prevalence and the complexity patterns of diseases, as they are the result of a dynamic interaction of several varied determinants.

“Healthy individuals cannot survive when society is sick.” On the other hand, aspects of social structure influence health and illness. Social factors not only affect life expectancy, but the possibilities the one will experience diseases and in turn, the health care that they will receive.

Of the many diseases spread by insects, none are actually caused by the insects themselves but by other organisms passed on when they feed or bite. Insects are capable of spreading diseases caused by many different types of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, protozoan and others. Mosquitoes have earned the title of "the most deadly creature on earth." This is due to the fact that they spread serious epidemic diseases such as Malaria, Yellow Fever, African Sleeping Sickness, and West Nile Virus.